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the eastward. It is only a cold-weather visitant, coming in October and departing by the end of 

 March." Mr. Blyth, however, calls in question Dr. Jerdon's statement as to its absence in Bengal, 

 and writes on this subject as follows : — " Dr. Jerdon asserts that the White Stork is ' unknown in 

 Bengal.' Two or three or more may be obtained almost every season in the Calcutta bazar ; and 

 I have been assured that this species occurs in large flocks not far in the interior." 



Wherever the Stork is met with in Europe (excepting in those countries where it is rare, as 

 in Great Britain, where, like all rare birds which visit our shores, it is at once shot and stuffed), 

 it is a sacred bird, and enjoys the same protection that the Robin does with us. Mr. Alfred 

 Benzon, in the notes on this bird which he has sent to me from Denmark, points out that 

 " the Stork is essentially a species that figures in legend and nursery tales, and is the bird most 

 often refered to by Hans Chr. Anderssen in his well-known tales. In every nursery throughout 

 the country it is known as the bird that brings the children to the house. How this legend 

 first arose it is hard to say ; but probably it was from the first a woman's invention to keep the 

 children's ideas pure and innocent, and to prevent them from prying into matters which they 

 had much better leave alone. This legend is found, with sundry variations, in many of our 

 nursery rhymes, amongst which I may name the following : — 



Der gaar en Mand udi Moser A man walks in the marshes 



Som boerer roede Hoser. Wearing red breeches. 



Snart bringes en Toes og snart en Pork, Now he brings a lass, now a lad ; 



Vil Du vide hvem det er ? Det er en Stork. Would you wish to know what it is ? a Stork. 



" The children often use the following rhyme : — 



Stork, Stork, Lange-Ben, Stork, Stork, with long legs, 



Skynd Dig lidt og vser ej sen, Hurry on, and don't be late, 



Flijv hjem hvser min Moder boer Ply to where my mother lives, 



Og bring mig en Idle Broker. And bring me a little brother. 



the last two lines being varied as follows : — 



Sosg Vester, soeg (Ester, Seek westward, seek eastward, 



Og bring mig en bile Soester. And bring me a little sister. 



" As with children, so with the peasantry, tales passed down from parent to child get to be 

 fully believed ; and the tale that the bird throws down an egg or a young bird from the nest is 

 now firmly believed, and considered by the more illiterate of the peasantry to be a sort of offering 

 like that intended by Abraham when he bound Isaac to sacrifice him ; whereas, on the other 

 hand, the more matter-of-fact peasants consider that the bird pays its rent thus. The tale that 

 the Storks hold a court of justice amongst themselves, and punish any one that has been guilty 

 of a crime, especially of a matrimonial delinquency, belongs to the same category ; and a well- 

 educated man lately assurred me in full earnest that he himself once witnessed the following 

 scene : — A Goose egg had been put in a Stork's nest in the place of a Stork's egg, which latter 

 had been taken away ; and when the Gosling was hatched out the male Stork flew away, and 

 returning with several others they all walked round the nest, clappering their bills, and after 

 carefully examining the Gosling for some time, they attacked the female Stork and killed her 

 as a punishment for her supposed faithlessness. This statement, however, cannot be trusted, as 



